Read the Farewell Letter from Partner Esteban in the Dominican Republic to the 2013 Intercordians

:We are highly grateful to you. An institution that without knowing us, trusted us. Rest assured that you will never let you down. We were born in the heart of the mountains of the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic, with two clear purposes: to improve the quality of life of rural families in the communities of the Yuna River basin and achieve the environmental recovery of thewater basin.

Since we were born, we decided to implement a method that relied on active democratic participation of the free peasants of these mountains. An open institution, in which anyone could participate, without any restrictions; all families and individuals related to the area or out of solidarity with the struggles that developed.

Without borders. Wherever in the world there is a human that is concerned with the fate of our families, they are welcome to our house. When our brother Joseph, on behalf of Intercordia, proposed the idea of ​​sending student volunteers to support us, we did not think twice. We accepted it, and today, after three months, seeing the result of this first experience, we have plenty of reason to say that we were right.

Trusting people and their own decisions, has become the largest obstacle for those who just want to use humans as guinea pigs. But for men and women who believe in peace and freedom, is the main resource that we have to reach the ultimate dream of every human being; to be free.

Freedom, the other name for education, should not be only for those who believe they have their problems solved because they have resources to buy the world. The governments of developed countries have sold us this idea to us. Much of our underdevelopment is that many of the citizens of our people have believed this theory.

What we begin to see in this first experience, is that those who have invented this theory, and even more so, those who believe this theory, are wrong. What the governments of our countries believe will not prevent the citizens of both of our countries, with each passing day, from realizing that the interests that we are defending, in the end are the same. We are united by the same feelings, the same beliefs, the same rights, and above all the same consciousness.

Carly, Courtney, Damien, Jenna and Jessica, you are the face of developed societies, that our poor people do not know. The face we know, is the face of the interventionist. From our people, the interventionist only wants our resources, mainly natural resources, which are our main asset, but through the “benevolence” of our governments, that wealth goes to large corporations in your countries.

However, contrary to this reality that torments us, you make the difference. With your approach, your solidarity and unconditional support in our hard work, you leave with us the clear message that you are citizens of the world, committed, like us, for a better life for our societies, and particularly, for our campesina families.